On Semi, Best Buy, Monsanto, Elan

MichaelBaron

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Wednesday's session is Bed Bath & Beyond
BBBY, +0.00%
The home goods retailer is expected to post earnings of 44 cents a share for its fourth quarter, according to analysts surveyed b Thomson First Call.

Electronics retailer Best Buy's
BBY, +0.53%
fourth quarter is expected to show earnings of $1.39 a share

Fourth-quarter numbers at Circuit City Stores
CC, -5.78%
are seen coming in at a per-share profit of 36 cents

Agrochemicals company Monsanto
MON, -1.10%
is seen posting a fiscal second-quarter profit of 57 cents a share .

On Semiconductor
ONNN
boosted late Tuesday its target for first-quarter sales growth to 8 percent sequentially from a previous target range of 5 to 6 percent. For the second quarter, the provider of microchips for power and data management said it expects sales to increase at least 5 percent sequentially. Also, average selling prices are expected to increase by more than 1 percent in the first quarter, with additional increases in the second quarter. Shares of On Semi, which initially jumped to as much as $9.91 in late trade, were last changing hands for $8.03, down 4.7 percent.

Usana Health Sciences
USNA, -0.36%
said that it expects to report first-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share, down from the per-share forecast of 31 cents issued in early February. The maker of nutrition and diet products attributed the lower forecast to higher expenses related to the opening of its Mexico operations and higher costs at its Wasatch operations. Usana also said it expects sales for the period to come in above $60 million, and that 2004 results should be at the high end of its previously announced forecast of $1.35 to $1.40 a share on sales of $245 million to $255 million. Two analysts polled by Thomson First Call are currently looking for first-quarter earnings of 31 cents a share on sales of $60 million, and 2004 earnings of $1.41 a share on sales of $260 million. Shares of Usana fell to $23.75 in after-hours moves, down 8.7 percent.

The Federal Trade Commission voted to block Arch Coal's
ACI, -4.15%
proposed $364 million acquisition of Triton Coal's assets. The FTC said the deal would reduce competition, possibly inducing collusion, among the producers of coal in Wyoming's Southern Powder River Basin. "The acquisition would result in the top three competitors controlling 86 percent of 2003 coal production in the SPRB and would substantially increase the possibility of, and harm from, coordinated interaction by these major players," FTC Competition Chief Susan Creighton said. Triton Coal is owned by New Vulcan Coal Holdings, LLC.

VaxGen
VXGN
posted a narrowed loss for the fourth quarter but restated its third-quarter numbers, widening its loss for that period by 3 cents a share. For the fourth quarter, the biotech company said it lost $8.8 million, or 41 cents a share, vs. a loss of $25.9 million, or $1.71 a share, last year. See full story. Shares of Brisbane, Calif.-based VaxGen ended Tuesday's session up 8.7 percent at $11.03.

Maxwell Technologies
MXWL, +8.00%
said that its auditor, Deloitte & Touche, resigned after issuing a "clean" opinion on the firm's 2003 audit. The electronics components maker said the resignation had come as a surprise. Maxwell said the explanation given was that, as a result of what it termed "significant turnover" in Maxwell's accounting staff during the year, Deloitte was uncomfortable with the level of its in-house accounting expertise and its reporting and compliance experience. Maxwell said Deloitte did not find any irregularities or mismanagement of its accounts during the audit. Shares of Maxwell gained $1.84, or 14.6 percent, to close at $14.40.

Elan
ELN, -20.00%
said that it will sell its North America and European interests in anti-epileptic drug Zonegran to Japanese firm Eisai for $130 million. Earlier in the day the Irish biotech firm also said it was selling commercialization rights to its Frova migraine medication as part of its plan to refocus its pipeline on drugs it thinks will be the most profitable. Elan also updated its outlook for 2004. The company expects lower product revenue, in a range of $575 million to $625 million, and negative EBITDA to widen to a range of $180 million to $200 million. Elan shares were last trading for $19.75, down 2 percent.

Alloy
ALOY
said that it expects to post a loss of 25 to 40 cents a share for fiscal 2004. The direct marketing and retail company that targets teenagers also posted a fourth-quarter loss of $76.2 million, or $1.82 a share, on sales of $116.3 million. In the same quarter a year earlier, Alloy had earnings of $8.1 million, or 18 cents a share, on sales of $103.7 million. Alloy shares lost 6 percent in evening dealings to change hands for $4.71.

Radio operator Clear Channel Communications
CCU, +0.86%
said its board approved a program to buy back up to $1 billion worth of stock over the next 12 months, effective immediately. Clear Channel shares rose to $42.60 in after-hours trade, a gain of 1.2 percent.

Tuesday's advancers

Aladdin Knowledge
ALDN
shares surged almost 27 percent after the company raised its first-quarter revenue outlook due to strong sales across all product lines. The digital security company said it now expects revenue of $15.9 to $16.3 million against $13.17 million in the first quarter of 2003 and a prior outlook of $14.4 to $14.9 million.

Atrix Laboratories'
ATRX
shares gained more than 5 percent after the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its abbreviated new drug application for its generic version of Dermik Laboratories' Benzamycin, a treatment for acne. The FDA decision reverses an August 2003 non-approval. Sandoz, a unit of Novartis
NVS, +0.55%
will market the product.

Autodesk
ADSK, -0.04%
shares added more than 5 percent after the company boosted its outlook for the first quarter to reflect increased demand across all geographies and industries. The San Rafael, Calif., maker of design software now sees earnings before items of 27 to 32 cents per share on revenue of between $265 million and $275 million for the quarter. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a clean profit of 20 cents per share on revenue of $243.5 million in the period. For the whole of fiscal 2005, Autodesk sees earnings before items of $1.27 to $1.36 per share on revenue of between $1.05 billion and $1.07 billion.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.